Combined rail stay and brace.



J. M, VAIL. COMBINED RAIL STAY AND BRAGE.

AIPLIOATION FILED OUT. 21,1908.

Patented Apr, 13, 1909.

INVENTORK flayM2fycu/fi 5 s 6 v c W JOSEPH M. VAIL, OF BRYAN, OHIO.

COMBINED BAIL STAY AND BBAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apri113, 19cc.

Application filed O'tobcr 21, 1908. Serial No. {58,765

'To cll whom it may concern:

I Be 1t known that I, JOSEPH M. VAIL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bryan, in the county of Williams and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Combined Rail Stay and Brace; and I do. hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and. exact'description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it. appertains to make and use the same, reference being'had to the accompanying drawin s', and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a adapted to serve either to prevent a creeping a ra of the rail relative to an associated tie or to brace the same against lateral stresses, or to perform both such functions.

The operation, construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention are fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which, a

Fi ure 1 is a top plan view of a ortion of and supporting tie with e device comprisin my invention. Fig. 2 is a section taken on 51o line a, a: in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a rail with my invention associated therewith and the tie in crosssection.

'base, as shown.

the rail-base. Carried by the bar3 between' the rail-base and tapered-faced lug 5 is a wedge-block 6, which is intended to co-- operate with the lug 5 to firmly grip the railbase in oppositionto the hook 4 to hold the barB thereto.

The wedge-block 6 is shown as having its top forwardly inclined, as at '7, and as be ing provided therethrough with a laterally broadened opening, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, for receiving the shank of a clampingoolt 7 which passes through a registering aperture in the bar 3, said aperture having its axis disposed at right-angles to the inclined top of the wedge-block. The purpose of inclining the top of the wedgebloclc and disposing the bolt 8 at an incline relative to a vertical is to cause the wedge block to have a tendency to move forward to more tightly grip the rail-base when the bolt is tightened. i wish it understood, however, that I do not desire to be restricted to the use of any particular means for securing the wedge-block to its bar, as this may be done in numerous ways.

The bar 3 preferably, but not necessarily,

has its inner or tie coacting side made straight and is provided on such side near its wedge-block carrying-end 'ith a spur or tenon 9, which is intended to be driven into the side of the tie to secure the bar against longitudinal movement. In driving this spur into a tie the opposite end of the bar is held slightly spaced from the tie side so that only the spur carrying end of the bar abuts against the tie when the spur is driven home. The purpose of this is to cause the resistance of a tie to any creeping strain of the rail to be exerted on the bar 3 at such end, so that the Wedge-block 6 will have a tendency to slip relative to the lug 5 whereby to more tightly grip the rail-base rather than t?) sli relatiye to the rail. To further carry out t is idea I rovide anti-friction balls 16 between the coactin faces of the lug 4 and wedge-block 6, said halls being mounted in pockets provided in the inner face of the lug, as shown by dotted lines.

For the purpose of adapting the wedge block to. serve as a rail-brace, the inner upper edge thereof is continued over the coat .nous side of the rail-base and vertically broadened to form a wing or enlargement 11, which abuts against the side of the rail-web and the under side of the rail tread or head, as shown.

rejecting from the forward end of the wedge-block 6 is an arm 12, which is angled outwardly relative to the rail 1 andrests on the top of the tie with which the bar 3 abuts, thus causin the tie and wedgehlock to act together tOEJIBlCB the rail. It is thus apparent that my device provides a simple, strong and very efficient means for bracing a rail against lateral stresses in addition to serving as a stay to prevent a creeping thereof relative to the associated tie.

I desire it to be understood that my invention is not limited to any specific form or arrangement of limitations are specified 1n the claims.

Havin thus described my invention, what I c aim as new anddesire tosecure by Letters Patent, is,- v r 1. A device of the class described, comprising a clamp-bar'adapted to underlie a railbase at thes'ide of a tie and having a railflang'e engaging hook at one end and a lug at the other end, a member adapted t'o-cooperate with the lug and hook to firmly grip the rail-base and'having portions adapted to coact with the rail web and a'tie to brace the former, and means for securing said member to the clamp-bar. I

2. A device of the class described, comprising aclamp-bar, a wedge-block adapted to end erate with said bar to grip a rail-base, sairFblo'ck having a portion adapted to project over the conti' uous rail flange and abut against the rail-we and the under side of the parts except in so fainas such I I rail-head and a portion projecting from its forward end at an angle to the rail for bearing upon the top of a tie, and means for securing the wedge-block to the clamp-bar.

3. The coi'nbinatioriwith a rail-stay clampbar and the wedge-block carried thereby, of antifriction means between the abutting faces of the clamp-bar and wedge-block Which'are opposed to the rail engaging side of the block.

4.1m a rail-stay, a clamp-bar having a railflange engaging hook at one end and a wedgecoac'ting lug at the other end, a wedge-block adapted to abut against said lug and to cooperate with the clamp-bar to grip a rail- I base, anti-friction means disposed between the coacting surfaces ofthe lug and wedgeblock, and means for preventingan outward movement of the Wedge-block relative to the clamp-bar. v

In testimony -where0f I have hereunto signed my name 'to'this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. JOSEPH M. vAnJj Witnesses I G. W. OWEN, l HAZEL B. HIETr. 

